I’ve always been fascinated by where food industry experts gain inspiration for their own recipes. Often times that credit will lie in family dishes from growing up, personal experiences, experimenting in the kitchen, & other recipes they’ve tried in their life. Below, eight industry experts share their favorite cookbooks that lend them a tremendous amount of inspiration in the kitchen
Kara Stout, Nutritionist, Nutrition by Kara: “I go through different seasons of favorite cookbooks. Lately, I’m LOVING An Avocado a Day: More than 70 Recipes for Enjoying Nature’s Most Delicious Superfood. For several reasons this is my current fav – 1. My love for the avocado is real. 2. I love the creativity it inspires. As someone who enjoys creating fun recipes, food styling + photography, I find so much inspiration in this book. Highly recommend for the avocado lover who also wants to create some healthy, beautiful, and easy-to-make recipes!”
Monique Volz, Blogger, Ambitious Kitchen: “My favorite cookbook is Heather Christo’s Pure Delicious! The food photography is absolutely gorgeous, and all 150 of the recipes are allergy-free. There’s something for everyone in this book!”
Erica Eckman, Blogger, Everything Erica: “I love Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. I’m not normally a big cookbook reader, BUT this one is a true gem. My husband is a vegetarian and it’s hard to feel inspired and creative without protein. Yotam’s book provides so much inspiration and has loads of veggie-forward, unique dishes that my husband and I love.”
Daina Trout, Founder & CEO, Health-Ade Kombucha: “I love the Santa Monica Farmers’ market cookbook because it gives me direction on what to get at the farmers’ markets here in SOCAL every week, and the recipes are literally all winners and easy to cook. I [also] love One Part Plant and Yum Universe for delicious, family friendly, and VEGAN recipies that will knock your socks off because none of them taste lacking at all”
Janey Schafer, Blogger, Foods of Jane: “I love Cravings by Chrissy Teigen because it’s hilarious and as real as it gets – the recipe excerpts literally have me lol-ing in the kitchen. Also, I love Thai food and there’s a whole section dedicated to her mom Pepper’s authentic recipes. The photography is also amazing, I was lucky enough to meet up with the photographer, Aubrie Pick last spring in LA and she’s a pretty awesome human and takes some of the best food pics I’ve ever seen.”
Addie Martanovic, Blogger, Chickpea In The City: “My favorite cookbook is the Nutrition Stripped cookbook. I love it because it has such variety in so many different plant-based recipes and the colors of the photos are absolutely gorgeous. It naturally just makes me so hungry! As a plus, it’s written by Registered Dietitian and blogger McKel Hill of Nutrition Stripped who is an absolute girl boss.”
Mia Zarlengo, Blogger, Bites by Mi: “My favorite cookbook is Aida Mollenkamp’s Keys to the Kitchen. I love this cookbook because it teachers readers super basic cooking tips, from hard boiled eggs to caring for your knives. But, it also has amazing recipes that are easy to follow and SO delicious- like my favorite chipotle sweet potato hash with poached eggs and avocado 😉 “
Kelly LeVeque, Holistic Nutritionist & Author, Be Well By Kelly: “Hmm my favorite cookbook… The Internet? Pinterest! I would have to say Against All Grain by Danielle Walker. She has an auto-immune disease & she wrote an auto-immune protocol cookbook but it has [things like] casseroles & chocolate chip cookies within it.
